International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)

ISSN: 2319-7064
ResearchGate Impact Factor (2018): 0.28 | SJIF (2018): 7.426

Adoption of Performance Contracting

Implementation and Target Achievement of
Academic Programmes in Public Universities in
Kenya
Leonard Kinyulusi1, Dorothy Kyalo2, Dr. Angeline Mulwa3, Dr. Daisy Matula4
1
Phd Scholar: University of Nairobi, Kenya
2
Lecturer: School of Open and Distance Learning, University of Nairobi
3
Lecturer: Department of Open Learning, University of Nairobi
4
Lecturer: Department of Education Administration and Planning, University of Nairobi

Abstract: The study determined how adoption of performance contracting implementation influences the target achievement of
academic programmes in public universities in Kenya. This study used a cross-sectional study design and mixed method design. The
target population of this study was 8789 postgraduate students who enrolled in 2015 and 2016, deans of schools, chairpersons of
departments and principals/directors of colleges in the six colleges of the University of Nairobi. Currently, there are seven colleges in the
University of Nairobi, but the latest college of Open and Distance Learning is still young to be evaluated. The study’s sample size was
reached at using Slovin's Formula. The current research sample size was made up of 389 respondents. The study adopted purposive
sampling and simple random sampling in the selection of the sample size. Secondary and primary data helped the researcher find data
and information that is relevant to the study. Questionnaires and key informant interviews were used to collect primary data. The
researcher, so as to improve the research instrument’s reliability and validity, conducted a pilot test. Questionnaires were distributed to
the respondents which provided data that was quantitative in nature. Additionally, qualitative data was obtained from key informative
interview guide and was analyzed using thematic analysis. Descriptive statistics included percentages, mean, frequency distribution, and
standard deviation. Inferential statistics focused on Pearson correlation and regression analysis. Regression analysis was used to
determine the relationship between the elements under investigation. It was established that adoption of performance contract
implementation had a positive influence on the target achievement of academic programmes in Public Universities (β=0.348, p-
value=0.000). The research established that the implementation of performance contracts in the University of Nairobi was facing
resistance to change. This research recommends that the University of Nairobi should adopt change management practices such as
involvement of all staff, effective communication and training.

Keywords: Performance Contracting, Implementation, Target Achievement

1. Introduction reform strategies (Waithera & Wanyoike, 2015). Countries

like Gambia, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya started using
The main role of all the governments globally is to provide performance contract in the management of public service in
the best services to their citizens and improve their welfare the year 2005. The 2008/2009 East Africa Community
and achieve their laid down goals including to meet wide, performance contract indicated that the member states
sustainable quality citizen needs (Nthia, 2014). The public (Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania) were expected to implement
service sector is among the sectors that are essential in the 2007-2012 strategic plan that was developed to help in
providing the needed public services which help the nation’s the development of appropriate work plans that were based
economy grow (Nkobe & Kenyoru, 2015). When service on performance targets.
delivery becomes ineffective or constrained, it affects the
nation’s development process and quality of life of its In Public Universities in Kenya, PC is signed at three levels.
citizens. However, governments all over the world are facing At the first level, the Cabinet Secretary of Education and the
a challenge of improving service delivery while using fewer Cabinet Secretary of the National Treasury and Planning
resources to provide these services (Abdisalan, 2012). In counter-signs the PC with the Chairman of the University
Asia, the concept of performance contracts has been adopted Council and an Independent Council Member. At the second
by China, Korea, Sri-Lanka, Malaysia, Pakistan and level the University Council signs the PC with the Vice-
Bangladesh. In Latin America countries that have adopted Chancellor. At the third level the Vice-Chancellor signs the
performance contract include Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, PC with Principals, Deans of Faculty and Heads of Institute
Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay and Mexico. Other (Republic of Kenya, 2015). In addition, Public Universities
countries include Canada, United Kingdom and the United in Kenya have written policies that communication
States (Feltham, Hofmann & Indjejikian, 2015). commitment to achievement of academic goals to students,
donors, staff, other stakeholders, research collaborators and
In the last two decades, poor performance in public agencies the general public. The critical success factor for successful
in Africa has necessitated the development of public sector adoption of PC which are in subsequent subsection include:
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 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN: 2319-7064
ResearchGate Impact Factor (2018): 0.28 | SJIF (2018): 7.426
PC planning, PC implementation, PC monitoring and Studies conducted on performance contract have looked at
evaluation and communicating of PC results. performance contract as an administrative, political and
societal tool and as a tool to enhance employee commitment
According to Fernandez (2009), the implementation of any (Kemboi, 2015). Therefore, there is little empirical evidence
strategy is an important undertaking for public and private on studies focusing on the effect of the adoption
firms. The implementation process is often understood to be performance contract implementation and how it influences
the allocation of the organization’s resources and coming up organizational performance. This study hence sought to fill
with a new structure for the organization (Mishra & this gap by establishing the influence of the adoption of
Potaraju, 2015). Performance Contract implementation in performance contract implementation on the target
Kenya started in 2004 when state corporations were required achievement of academic programs in the Public
to improve the performance of tasks so as to increase the job Universities in Kenya with a focus on the University of
satisfaction rates for members of staff, this satisfaction does Nairobi.
lead to increased performance of jobs. This leads to visible
and improved financial performance. Performance contract 2. Literature Review
is a strategic management tool in which principals sign a
performance agreement with their agents on various Target Achievement of Academic Programmes in Public
deliverables (Fiegener, 2005). Such deliverables may be Universities
profit, service standards, staff turn-over and many other Target achievement refers to a benchmark that represents
business activities. The aim of performance contract both in success at attaining a particular outcome, desired level of
public and private organizations is to improve the efficiency, satisfaction in public universities (Kadai et al.,
effectiveness and efficiency in the management of the 2006). The concept of Target Achievement recognizes that
organization’s affairs. an organization is a result of assets that are productive which
include physical, capital and human resources which come
Over the years, the University of Nairobi has consistently together to attain a shared goal. Gakure, Muriu and Orwa
performed well in its performance contracts. In the results (2013) point out that, target achievement is proof of a firm’s
for the year 2008/2009, the University of Nairobi was effectiveness. There are other pointers that can be used to
position 2 and position 3 in the results for the year quantify how an organization achieves its targets including
2009/2010. In addition, the institution was ranked first efficiency, relevance to stakeholders, financial viability and
among state institutions in an evaluation done by the effectiveness. Achievement of targets in an organization can
government for performance contracts in the financial year also be classified as financial or non-financial (Gaunya,
of 2010-2011 (VarsityFocus, 2012). Due to these good 2014).
consistent results the University has become a leader in
performance contract implementation. Financial target achievement refers to the ability of the firm
to achieve economic objectives, while non-financial target is
Despite the increasing performance of the University of centered on operational performance which includes
Nairobi among state corporations in Kenya and the efficiency, market share, new product development and
increasing enrollments in each of its colleges, the number of innovation (Jiang & Seidmann, 2014). For a firm to achieve
students graduating every year has been fluctuating. For total effectiveness, it shows that the organization has a wider
instance, the number of Bachelor’s degrees students who conceptualization of achievement of targets and can be done
graduated in the year 2012 was 7288, which increased to in form of measure of the overall performance, reputation,
8589 in the year 2013 before decreasing to 8109 in the year goals achievement, perceived total performance compared to
2014 (University of Nairobi Annual report, 2014). Similarly, competitors and survival. Githemo (2006) proposed that
the number of diploma students who graduated in the year Universities use research output and publications, student
2012 was 2472, which decreased to 2113 and 2063 in the enrolment, grant funding, rankings, graduation (completion)
years 2013 and 2014, respectively. However, in the year, rates, curriculum development and faculty reputation as a
2012, the number of PhD students who graduated was 79, measure of performance or achievement of targets. Since
which increased to 94 in the year 2013 and 124 in the year financial targets of universities are measured through annual
2015. In the year 2016, the University of Nairobi awarded a financial reports which are published yearly as a measure of
total of 57 degrees, which is a decrease from 124 in the year performance achievement, this study will adopt a non-
2014. The number of Masters Students who graduated in the financial measures and it will narrow down to curriculum
year 2012 was 3061, which increased to 3409 in the year development, publications, teaching and learning facilities
2013 and 3477 in the year 2014 (University of Nairobi and students’ progression which comprises of enrollments
Annual report, 2015). A customer satisfaction survey and graduations.
conducted by the University of Nairobi in 2013 revealed that
49.6% of the students were satisfied with the teaching The Government of Kenya (GoK) has also institutionalized
facilities, 50.2% were satisfied with the reading materials, PC system as a measure of performance for all Ministries,
57.5% were satisfied with the lecturers’ competence and Departments and Agencies. Their performances are based
commitment, 50.3% were satisfied with the learning against a set of criteria and given a weighting set at the
environment and 57.6% were satisfied with social amenities. beginning of a contracting period such as a financial year.
Despite the University performing well in performance The criteria includes; financial and non-financial measures,
contracting, target achievement of academic programmes in service delivery, operations and qualitative measures.
the University is still low. However, the most common measures of performance in
public universities include Curriculum development,
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Paper ID: ART20203290 DOI: 10.21275/ART20203290 277
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN: 2319-7064
ResearchGate Impact Factor (2018): 0.28 | SJIF (2018): 7.426
publications, quality of teaching and learning facilities and but should be seen as part of the broad systems of
students’ progression. performance management.

Performance contracting focuses on the mechanism of The main factors affecting performance contract
reforming public sector through setting, measurable, implementation in public institutions include financial
accurate, time-bound, simple and realistic targets, resources, corporate culture and human resources. Omboi
specifying agent performance in terms of results and and Kariuki (2011) conducted a study on the factors
assigning accountability for those results, increasing the affecting implementation of performance contract initiative
transparency of the accountability relationship in public at Municipal Council of Maua-Kenya. The study used the
institutions, establishing clear reporting, monitoring and cross-sectional descriptive research design whereby both
evaluation mechanisms of the activities and providing a quantitative and qualitative data was collected. According to
basis for assessment of performance (Selviaridis & Wynstra, the findings there was great satisfaction from many of the
2015). Performance contracting can be traced from France in business owners and members of staff from the municipal
the late 1960’s and other states such as Korea, India and council of Mauia of the services delivered after the PC was
Pakistan. It has been adopted in developing countries such as introduced. The study also found that financial resources and
Ghana, Gambia, Nigeria and now in Kenya (Akkermans et human resources were significantly influencing the
al., 2019). performance contract initiatives implementation at
Municipal Council of Maua-Kenya.
Performance Contract Implementation
Githemo (2006) indicate that there are people and even Gathai, Ngugi and Waithaka (2012) carried out an analysis
management staff who support the idea of performance of factors that influence implementation of performance
contract and the idea of performance measuring but of contracts in state Corporations by focusing on Kenya Civil
course there are some who are not for the idea. This is Aviation Authority. The study used a descriptive research
especially true for those employees who might feel that design. According to the results the firm did provide the
measuring their performance will expose them especially if necessary resources that were needed for the successful
their performance is poor (Cohen & Baruch, 2010). Yet implementation of the strategies. Additionally, it was found
another area that staff might resist is in terms of the structure that the management was able to evaluate the PC results.
of grading as there are members of staff who feel that the Another finding was that the implementation of the strategy
grading system out in place will not bring equality when was as a result of commitment of a team that had a decision
small and big organizations are put together. In the public making process which was coalitional in nature or was due
sector, the views might be similar in that public entities that to the involvement of the employees in the process of
are in different sectors should not be graded the same implementation brought about by a strong corporate culture.
(Gatere, Keraro & Gakure, 2013). In spite of the use of
composite score that grades ministries and state comparison Bomett (2015) conducted a study on implementation issues
while taking into consideration their differences, there are and strategies in performance contract in Kenyan Public
some public entities that still prefer the grading to be Universities. To guide the research, a case study that used
different arguing that they are unique in terms of size, the mixed method of research was used. The study found out
mandate, turnover, employees and service delivery. that excellent results were not recognized, noted or rewarded
and by the time the contract was coming to an end no
Some of the challenges that were said to be part of the sanctions were made. In addition, staffs that have not
project implementation included poor performance performed in their institutions are not warned and were not
management, structure of the firms, rigid firm cultures and given suggestions on solutions to their weaknesses.
the management and leadership styles (Gaunya, 2014). It Moreover, on the consequences of signing the performance
was noted that there was need to restructure the structure of contract it can be concluded that the institution did not agree
the firms so that the process of decision making could on sacking employees who do not sign the performance
become quicker which would lead to a quick response. contract and that occasional suspension from duty due to not
Additionally, it was observed that some managers were not meeting the targets in the performance contract should not
keen on implementing the PC and were also not quick in be employed.
formulating strategies that could be solutions to existing
challenges. Success of the PC would also be faced by some 3. Theoretical Framework
challenges (Mutembei, Wanjiru & Tirimba, 2014). Those
who do well in implementing the PC expect a reward maybe Performance contract is a summation of various bodies of
in form of a higher pay. The first round of performance knowledge applied together with an intention of improving
contract were given out before there was a reward system. organization performance. The study was anchored on
The public did not only expect the rewarding of the high agency theory. Cohen and Baruch (2010) are proponents of
performers but also a form of punishment for those whose agency theory and used the agency theory to provide the
performance was poor. When there are no rewards or other dichotomization process used by the Israeli workforce which
form of punishment, the high performers are demoralized was divided into two structures that had their own
while the others begin doubting the usefulness of the organizational cultures. One of the structures used is the
process. Despite this, it is good to note that that performance private structure where at the lead was the high-tech
contract should be regarded as wider beyond the fact it is an industry; this was a model whereby the principle controls the
individual process from the regulations in human resources agent activities. In addition, Pepper and Gore (2015) showed
that there were challenges in the real estate sector.
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ISSN: 2319-7064
ResearchGate Impact Factor (2018): 0.28 | SJIF (2018): 7.426
According to the evidence the agents of residential real motivation and the public sector organization goals will
estate sold their houses at 4.5% premium price compared to reduce the burden on the government to motivate the staff
the price they sold for their clients. (Pepper & Gore, 2015). This is because the employees will
be motivated to do what they do. This is against the theory
Agency theory is seen as if it explains the movement of proposition that the agent utility stems from the disutility
agencification. This is the reason why it is one of the most and incentives from the effort he provides on behalf of the
used explanatory models. The theory begins where the principal.
principal gives orders and the agent follows them (Shogren The lesson learnt here is that the agencies can only provide
et al., 2015). However, the two parties both have their own the best results to the government when they are made part
interests which are not convergent when giving or following of the administrative system (Shogren et al., 2015). This
the orders. In addition, specialization gives the agent an does not mean that there should be no autonomy but that
advantage as the agent has more experience with the autonomy should be in harmony with the government
process, the expected results and important rules to be expected objectives. Challenges do exist when the
followed. The challenge is that the agent since they have an principal/agent process is used to provide solutions to reduce
advantage can use this to pursue their interests. the costs of agency in public organizations (Selviaridis &
Norrman, 2015). For instance, there is no profit which can
The agency theory is used to explain the implementation of be used to quantify performance which means that
performance contract in public institutions. Once the agency quantifying performance can be hard and thus compensation
is created, it reduces the input control and implements the cannot be linked to performance. In addition, most public
contract control, the assumption in this case is that if there is sector activities have very complex output to outcomes
a problem with different objectives and goals then this relationships. Therefore, it might be hard to observe the two.
method can give it a solution (Pepper & Gore, 2015). The Most factors that affect the results are not well
agent is expected to fulfill the contract and follow the comprehended by the agency or they might be out of the
principles rules while doing so. The principal is also control of the agency. The challenges that are as a result of
expected to give the agent freedom to execute his duties by difficulties in the specification and measure of performance
not interfering with how the agent doers it. This positively make it easier for the theory to be utilized in the public
affects the agents work as he or she can choose the best institutions. However, despite these limitations the
inputs to use to come up with the expected outcomes implementation of performance contracts in Public
(Buchanan, Chai & Deakin, 2014). Therefore, the theory Universities involves a principal (the government through
points out that the agency should be independent from the the Vice Chancellor) and the agents (academic and non-
government so as to give the best results but the government academic staff). The performance contracts stipulate a
too should be powerful enough to ensure that the agency contractual agreement between the government and the staff
provided the expected outcomes. in Public Universities.

The public sector is faced with a lot of challenges that the 4. Conceptual Framework
agency theory does not address. The firms in the public
sector often are characterized by many stakeholders whose A conceptual framework is set of concepts that are largely
goals are also different and many. The different stakeholders defined and systematically put together to provide a focus
may therefore offer opposing incentives with the resultant and show relationships between concepts. In this study the
being poor service delivery that will not benefit any of the conceptual framework shows the relationship between the
principals. The linkage of incentives to performance may independent and the dependent variable. The independent
lead to gaming. The information gap between the agent and variables include adoption of performance contract planning,
the principals accords the agent an advantage over the adoption of performance contract implementation, adoption
principal (Buchanan, Chai & Deakin, 2014). To ensure of dissemination of performance contract results and
maximum return for little effort the agent may use the adoption of performance contract monitoring and evaluation.
information for their own good and detriment to the On the other hand, the dependent variable was target
principal. This is a case of information asymmetry. achievement of academic programmes in Public
Universities. The moderating variable for the relationship
There are different aspects of performance that are hard to between performance contract and target achievement of
measure while on the other hand they have the greatest academic programmes in the University of Nairobi was
impact on the performance. Therefore, what will be included change management practices.
in the performance contract of the organization are only the
measurable aspects. This is a challenge that the Agency
theory does not address. The theory takes into account
extrinsic motivation of the agent and ignores the intrinsic
motivation. The match of the employees’ intrinsic

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Paper ID: ART20203290 DOI: 10.21275/ART20203290 279
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ISSN: 2319-7064
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Figure 1: Conceptual Framework

A performance contract plan plays a major role in e = error margin / margin of error (0.05)
organizational performance in public institutions. The
implementation of performance contracts is one of the main
factors affecting the performance of public institutions. The
main factors influencing the implementation of performance
contracts include financial resources, human resources and
organizational structures among others. In this study, Table 1: Sample Size
performance contract implementation will be measured by Target Population Sample Size
use of inducting staff on PC, introducing PC and signing of PhD 975 29
PC. Masters 7688 227
deans of schools/faculties 42 42
chairpersons of departments 78 78
5. Research Methodology principals/directors of colleges 6 6
Total 8789 382
This study adopted pragmatic research paradigm. This
paradigm was chosen as the study combined both qualitative The study adopted a multi stage sampling method. In the
and quantitative research methods. A cross sectional first step, the study used purposive sampling to select PhD
research design and mixed method design were used. In students, Masters Students, deans of schools/faculties,
cross-sectional research design, the data needed for the chairpersons of departments and principals/directors of
research is collected in a given duration to shed light on the colleges. This is because deans of schools/faculties,
relationship between the study’s variables. Cross-sectional chairpersons of departments and principals/directors of
research design integrates both qualitative and quantitative colleges are involved directly in the implementation of
research which leads to a much wider understanding of the performance contracting and both PhD students and Masters
problem in question compared to the use of one method of Students are directly affected by the implementation of
research. The target population of the present study performance contracts. In the second stage, the respondents
comprised of 8789 PhDs and Masters students who enrolled were selected using simple random sampling.
in 2015 and 2016, deans of schools, chairpersons of
departments and principals/directors of colleges in the six Both primary and secondary data were used for the research.
colleges of the University of Nairobi. Currently, there are Secondary data was derived from published literature review
seven colleges in the University of Nairobi, but the latest including from textbooks, journal articles, published thesis,
college of Open and Distance Learning is still young to be textbooks, annual universities’ reports and performance
evaluated. contracting documents. On the other hand, primary data was
obtained with the help of informant interview guides and
The sample size of this study was determined using Slovin's questionnaires. Questionnaires collected quantitative data
Formula. However, all the deans of schools/faculties, from academic staff and PhD students. Key informant
chairpersons of departments and principals/directors of interviews were used to collect qualitative data from
colleges were included in the study due to their small directors of quality assurance. A pilot test was conducted to
number. The Slovin's Formula was as follows; examine the validity and reliability of the research
instrument. The pilot group comprised of 10% of the sample
size and was conducted in Kenyatta University. To improve
whereby: on the questionnaires validity, the researcher consulted with
n = no. of samples the university supervisor. Cronbach’s alpha was used in
N = total population measuring the reliability of the research instrument. The
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Paper ID: ART20203290 DOI: 10.21275/ART20203290 280
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN: 2319-7064
ResearchGate Impact Factor (2018): 0.28 | SJIF (2018): 7.426
results indicated that the Cronbach’s alpha for all the achievement of academic programmes in the University of
variables was more than 0.7 and hence the instrument was Nairobi.
reliable.
From the findings, the PhD and Masters Students agreed
A questionnaire was used to collect qualitative and with a mean of 4.298 that their university is ranked one of
quantitative data. Analysis of the qualitative data was done the best in the country. In addition, the PhD and Masters
using thematic analysis and the results of the analysis were Students agreed that students enrollments in their university
presented in prose form. On the other hand, descriptive and and the number of students graduating every year has been
inferential statistics were used for analysis of quantitative increasing over the years as shown by means of 3.894 and
data with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences 3.766, respectively. The PhD and Masters Students also
(SPSS version 22). Descriptive statistics included frequency agreed that the curriculum in the university is relevant to the
distribution, mean, standard deviation and percentages. job market and the university had been making
Inferential statistics included Pearson correlation analysis improvements in the teaching and learning facilities as
and regression analysis. Pearson correlation analysis was shown by means of 3.743 and 3.720, respectively. In
used to test for the strength of the relationship between the addition, the PhD and Masters Students agreed that the
variables under investigation. Regression analysis was used number of publications per college has been increasing over
to determine the relationship between independent variable the years and their university has frequent reviews of the
(adoption of performance contracting implementation) and curriculum as shown by means of 3.701 and 3.610,
dependent variable (target achievement of academic respectively. However, the PhD and Masters Students were
programmes in public universities in Kenya). Regression neutral in the statement indicating that there are frequent
model was as follows; supervisions in their university to ensure quality as shown
by a mean of 3.252. They were also neutral on the statement
H11: There is as significant relationship between adoption of indicating that the teaching and learning facilities in their
performance contracting implementation and the target university were available as shown by a mean of 2.844. The
achievement of academic programmes in public universities PhD and Masters Students disagreed with the statement that
in Kenya the teaching and learning facilities in their university were
adequate as shown by a mean of 2.376.

Whereby; Table 2: Target Achievement of academic programmes

Y = Target Achievement of Academic programmes Std.
Mean
B0 = Constant Deviation
Our university has frequent reviews of the
β1 =Coefficients 3.610 1.077
curriculum
X1 = Adoption of performance contracting implementation The curriculum in our university is relevant to
ε = Error term the job market
3.743 1.042
There are frequent supervisions in our
3.252 .840
6. Research Findings and Discussions university to ensure quality
The number of publications per college has
3.701 .939
The sample size of the study was 382 respondents that been increasing over the years
comprised of 29 PhD students, 227 Masters Students, 42 The teaching and learning facilities in our
2.376 1.146
deans of schools/faculties, 78 chairpersons of departments university are adequate
The teaching and learning facilities in our
and 6 principals/directors of colleges. Out of 256 2.844 1.003
university are available
questionnaires that were distributed, 218 responses were
The university has been making improvements
obtained. In addition, 12 deans of schools/faculties, 24 3.720 .935
in the teaching and learning facilities
chairpersons of departments and 3 principals/directors of Students enrollments in our university have
colleges were interviewed. These responses showed a 75.1% 3.894 .932
been increasing every year
response rate. Russell (2013) argues that even though, The number of students graduating every year
3.766 .903
statistically, there are no rules of acceptable response rate, a has been increasing over the years
50% is normally considerate adequate for analysis, making Our university is ranked one of the best in the
4.298 .973
inferences and for reporting while a 70% is considered to be country
a very good response rate thus the response rate of the study Average 3.520 .979
was within acceptable limits for inference making.
The PhD and Masters Students were asked to indicate how
Target Achievement of Academic Programmes in Public the adoption of performance contracting influences the
Universities target achievement of academic programmes in public
Target Achievement of academic programmes was the universities in Kenya. From the findings, they reported that
dependent variable in this study and its indicators included adoption of performance contracting had helped the
curriculum development, publications, teaching and learning University to increase graduation rates and offer high quality
facilities as well as student’s progression. In a five point services to students. This is evidenced by the fact that the
likert scale (where 1 represented strongly agree, 4 University of Nairobi has been leading among public
represented agree, 3 represented neutral, 2 represented institutions in Kenya in performance contracting
disagree and 1 represented strongly disagree) the PhD and implementation. In addition, the deans of schools/faculties
masters students were asked to indicate their extent of and chairpersons of departments reported that the adoption
agreement with various statements measuring target of performance contracting had led to curriculum
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Paper ID: ART20203290 DOI: 10.21275/ART20203290 281
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN: 2319-7064
ResearchGate Impact Factor (2018): 0.28 | SJIF (2018): 7.426
development through increasing frequency of review, development, Publications, Quality of teaching and learning
offering courses that are relevant to the job market and facilities and students’ progression. However, there are
through an improvement in supervision. In addition, the moderate supervisions in the University of Nairobi to ensure
principals/directors of colleges indicated that as a result of quality. In addition, the teaching and learning facilities in the
performance contracting adoption, the University had university were moderately available. Further, the teaching
managed to increase teaching and learning facilities as well and learning facilities in the University of Nairobi were
as students’ graduation rates. inadequate.

The study found that students’ enrollments in the University Adoption of Performance contract implementation
of Nairobi and the number of students graduating every year The PhD and Masters Students were asked to indicate their
has been increasing over the years. In addition, the extent of agreement with various statements on adoption of
curriculum in the University of Nairobi is relevant to the job performance contract implementation in the University of
market and the university had been making improvements in Nairobi. According to the findings, the PhD and Masters
the teaching and learning facilities. These findings agree students agreed that staff in the University had been signing
with Njenga (2016) who argues that performance is in terms performance contracts and the University had been having
of student enrolment, students graduating rates and service performance targets as shown by means of 3.619 and 3.610,
user satisfaction. In addition, the PhD and Masters Students respectively. However, they disagreed with the statement
agreed that the number of publications per college has been that the University had been holding negotiations as shown
increasing over the years and their university has frequent by a mean of 2.385. In addition, they disagreed with the
reviews of the curriculum. These findings agree with statement that the University had been inducting staff for
Githemo (2006) who argues that the most common measures performance contract as shown by a mean of 2.252.
of performance in public universities include Curriculum

Table 3: Adoption of Performance contract implementation

1 2 3 4 5 Mean Std. Deviation
Our University has been inducting staff for performance contract 31.2 27.5 28.0 11.5 1.8 2.252 1.075
Our University has been having performance targets 6.0 12.8 17.9 40.8 22.5 3.610 1.143
Our University has been holding negotiations 27.5 25.2 29.4 17.0 .9 2.385 1.089
Staff in our University have been signing performance contracts 5.0 17.0 13.3 40.4 24.3 3.619 1.170
Average 2.967 1.120

The PhD and Masters Students were asked to indicate how Table 4: Correlation Coefficient
the adoption of performance contract implementation Target Adoption of
influences the performance of Academic programmes in Achievement Performance
Public Universities in Kenya. From the findings the PhD and of academic contract
Masters Students indicated that performance contract programmes implementation
implementation is the most important aspect of a Target Pearson
1
Achievement Correlation
performance contract as it involves the execution of the
of academic Sig. (2-tailed)
performance contract plan. The Deans of Schools/Faculties programmes N 218
reported that induction of staff, which was missing in the Adoption of Pearson
University of Nairobi, was a key component in ensuring the 0.659** 1
Performance Correlation
implementation of performance contracts and in ensuring contract Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000
employee commitment to performance contracts. In implementation N 218 218
addition, Principals/Directors of Colleges and Chairpersons
of departments reported that the implementation of Regression Analysis
performance contracts was facing resistance from employees A univariate analysis was conducted to investigate the
who had worked in the organization for long. Also, staffs in influence of adoption of performance contracts
the University of Nairobi were signing the performance implementation on the target achievement of academic
contracts before training on what it entails and its programmes in Public Universities in Kenya. The null
importance. hypothesis was;
H02: There is no significant relationship between adoption
Correlation Analysis of performance contract implementation and the
Correlation analysis was used in the assessment of the target achievement of academic programmes in
association between adoption of performance contract Public Universities in Kenya.
implementation and target achievement of academic
programmes. According to the findings, shown in Table 4, As shown in Table 5, the R-squared for the relationship
there is a positive linear association between adoption of between adoption of performance contract implementation
performance contract implementation and target and the target achievement of academic programmes in
achievement of academic programmes in the University of Public Universities in Kenya was 0.434. This implies that
Nairobi (r=0.659, p-value=0.000). adoption of performance contract implementation can
explain 43.4% of the target achievement of academic
programmes in Public Universities in Kenya.

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Table 5: Model Summary contract implementation and target achievement of academic
Model R R Square
Adjusted Std. Error of programmes in the University of Nairobi. The results from
R Square the Estimate regression analysis also showed adoption of performance
1 0.659a 0.434 0.432 0.47415 contract implementation has a positive influence on the
a. Predictors: (Constant), Adoption of Performance target achievement of academic programmes in Public
contract implementation Universities in Kenya However, the study also established
that the teaching staff had not been allocated duties and
ANOVA for Performance contract implementation and responsibilities in performance contracts implementation.
target achievement of academic programmes is presented in These findings agree with Omboi and Kariuki (2011)
Table 6. As shown in Table 6, the F-calculated (165.815) is observation that performance contract implementation in
greater than the F-critical (3.87) and the p-value (0.000) is public institutions influences service delivery.
less than the significance level (0.000), which shows that the
model can be used in predicting the influence of the The study found that the staff in the University had been
adoption of performance contract implementation on the signing performance contracts and the University had been
target achievement of academic programmes in Public having performance target. These findings are in line with
Universities in Kenya. Gathai, Ngugi and Waithaka (2012) findings that most of the
public institutions in Kenya have already signed
Table 6: ANOVA performance contracts. The study also established that the
Sum of squares df Mean Square F Sig. University had not been holding negotiations. These findings
Regression 37.277 1 37.277 165.815 0.000b
agree with Bomett (2015) observation that holding of
Residual 48.560 216 0.225
negotiations is an important part in project implementation.
Total 85.837 217
a. Dependent Variable: Target Achievement of academic
programmes The study also found that induction of staff, which was
b. Predictors: (Constant), Adoption of performance contract missing in the University of Nairobi, was a key component
implementation in ensuring the implementation of performance contracts and
From the results, the regression equation can be presented in ensuring employee commitment to performance contracts.
as; This is contrary to Gathai, Ngugi and Waithaka (2012)
Y= 2.473 + 0.348 (Adoption of performance contract observation that the introduction of performance contracts
implementation) necessitates the induction of staff. In addition, the study
revealed that the implementation of performance contracts
From the findings, the adoption of performance contract was facing resistance from employees who had worked in
implementation had positive influence on target achievement the organization for long. These findings agree with
of academic programmes as shown by the regression Mutembei, Wanjiru and Tirimba (2014) findings that the
coefficient of 0.348. This implies that a unit increase in the staff in an organization might resist the structure of grading
adoption of performance contract implementation would as there are members of staff who feel that the grading
lead to a 0.348 improvement in the target achievement of system out in place will not bring equality when small and
academic programmes in Public Universities. Since the p- big ministries are put together. Also, staffs in the University
value (0.000) is less than the significance level (0.05), the of Nairobi were signing the performance contracts before
null hypothesis “There is no significant relationship between training on what it entails and its importance. This is
adoption of performance contract implementation and the contrary to Mutembei, Wanjiru and Tirimba (2014) findings
target achievement of academic programmes in Public that training of staff in any kind of project should precede
Universities in Kenya “ was rejected and the alternative implementation.
hypothesis can be accepted and hence “there is a significant
relationship between adoption of performance contract 8. Conclusions and Recommendations
implementation and the target achievement of academic
programmes in Public Universities in Kenya”. The research concludes that there is a significant relationship
between adoption of performance contract implementation
Table 4. 1: Regression Coefficients and the target achievement of academic programmes in
Unstandardized Standardized Public Universities in Kenya. The research found that the
Coefficients Coefficients staff in the University had been signing performance
t Sig.
Std. contracts and the University had been having performance
B Beta
Error targets. In addition, the staffs in the University of Nairobi
(Constant) 2.473 0.087 28.290 0.000 were signing the performance contracts before training on
Adoption of
what it entails and its importance. In addition, the research
Performance Contract 0.348 0.027 0.659 12.877 0.000
implementation revealed that the implementation of performance contracts
a. Dependent Variable: Target Achievement of was facing resistance from employees who had worked in
b. academic programmes the organization for long.

7. Discussion of the Findings The research revealed that non-teaching staff had been
allocated duties and responsibilities in performance contracts
implementation. The research also found that the University
The results from correlation analysis showed that there is a
had not been holding negotiations. Despite being a key
positive linear association between adoption of performance
component in ensuring the implementation of performance
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Paper ID: ART20203290 DOI: 10.21275/ART20203290 283
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN: 2319-7064
ResearchGate Impact Factor (2018): 0.28 | SJIF (2018): 7.426
contracts and in ensuring employee commitment to Department of Infrastructure. IOSR Journal of Business
performance contracts, the research found that University and Management, 14(6), 73-82.
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Therefore the study recommends that the University of The impact of Performance contracts on Service
Nairobi should develop an induction program for all the delivery at the Teachers Service Commission in Kenya.
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Management, 3(5), 1009-1024
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Paper ID: ART20203290 DOI: 10.21275/ART20203290 284
 International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR)
ISSN: 2319-7064
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Paper ID: ART20203290 DOI: 10.21275/ART20203290 285